Tying Loose Ends
by moonlight-rider44
Summary: Picking up at the exact moment that Immortal Hearts ends to tie up some loose ends. How does Raven adjust to becoming a vampire? How do her parents react to their 17 year old apparently eloping and dropping out of school? What will become of Trevor? Are the Maxwell's friend or foe? There are many challenges in store for our favorite couple.
1. Chapter 1

As Alexander and I turned back to our onlookers, we were met with a mixture of reactions. I was so overcome by the joy of the occasion that all I could do was laugh. Becky looked like she didn't know whether to be happy of repulsed. She was crying with a huge smile on her face, and at the same time she looked like she had just been watching a horror movie. I thought for sure she was about to faint.

I walked over to her and took her hands. They were shaking. "Beck, you okay?"

She didn't speak. Instead she was staring at the place where Alexander had bitten only a minute before. "Becky?" Finally she lifted her eyes to meet mine. I was met with pure shock.

"He really bit you…" she said in a bewildered voice. I nodded. She glanced quickly at Alexander who was standing behind me protectively then turned her attention back to the bite mark on my neck that I knew must be starting to look like a funny bruise by now.

I waited as Becky continued to process what had happened. Vampires were still a kind of new thing for her. "I mean, I knew…" she began. "I knew he was a vampire, and you told me he was going to bite you, and you were gonna be a…" She trailed off. "So now are you?..."

"Yep!" I nodded enthusiastically.

Suddenly Becky began to laugh in a friendly way, and she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me with all her might. "I'm so happy for you, Raven! You finally got what you always wanted." I smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks, Beck. I'm so glad you are here with me."

"Of course," she said. "What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't come to my own best friend's vampiric covenant ceremony?" She glanced back my neck and giggled as only Becky can. "Girl, you are gonna have a ridiculous hickey."

I smiled at this. "You think?" I questioned excitedly. I heard Alexander chuckle sexily behind me. "It'll be awhile before that disappears, my dear. I'm sorry for the inconvenience," he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me into his chest.

Matt reached around Becky to give Alexander a congratulatory fist bump. "So you guys are married now?" he asked. Alexander nodded affirmatively, "As far as the vampire world goes."

Suddenly I felt two particularly intrusive forefingers pushing my upper lip into my nose. I swung at my little brother for being so obnoxious. He dodged easily.

"What do you think you're doing, you little brat?!" I yelled at him.

"Science," he replied. "I had to know for sure that my sister was really a vampire." He paused for a moment. "You know mom and dad are going to be upset right? What am I supposed to say when they get back? I can just imagine how that conversation would go," he said. He heightened his voice to imitate mom, "Billy, do you know where Raven is? She didn't come home last night. Oh, I don't know, mom, probably sleeping in a coffin with her new vampire husband." He looked back at me with intensity in his eyes. "Somehow I don't see that going over well. You may be married or whatever as far as the vampire world goes, but legally you're not even an adult yet. You can't just drop out of school. You know mom and dad could be arrested for child neglect if you don't go?"

I began to protest, but Billy wouldn't let me. His rant continued. "Don't try to tell me that you'll be homeschooled or anything. Your guardian has to sign for stuff like that. And, and… mom will be super lonely without having to drag you out of bed in the morning, and dad will have nothing to grumble about if you don't leave the milk out in the morning…" I could see how he was fighting the tears welling up in his eyes. He actually could be sweet sometimes, and at the end of the day he was my brother. I leaned over, slipping out of Alexander's arms, and gave him a hug. He huffed. "Don't touch me you stupid vampire obsessed freak," he said, but he hugged me back with one arm.

Alexander kneeled next to me, putting a hand on Billy's shoulder. "Billy," he began. "Trust me. I'll take care of Raven." My baby brother let go of me and turned his attention totally to my Knight of the Night. He continued, "I know your home won't be exactly as it was, but I promise that I won't take her away completely. She will still be a part of your life." Alexander moved his hand from my brother's shoulder and extended it toward him. "Can you trust me?" he asked.

My suddenly very grown up little brother looked at my dark prince with hard eyes. "You promise that you'll take care of her and never give up on her no matter what, even if my dad hates you for the rest of his life?" he questioned. Alexander smiled slightly and nodded. "You have my word," he said extending his hand to my brother again. Billy shook his hand. "You know if you ever break your promise I'm coming after you with a stake," he said.

"Billy!" I started, but Alexander just smiled and shook his head at me. He looked back at the middle schooler. "I would expect nothing less," he said, rising from his kneeling position. "Thank you."

My dreamy vampire then slipped his arm around me and I melted into him. Everything felt perfect. We were finally bonded for all eternity.

Suddenly Stormy jumped on us wrapping her arms around our waists. She looked up at us. "I finally have a real sister!" she said. She released her brother to take my hands. "I'm so excited," she began. "Now we can stay up all night together talking about Hello Batty and online shopping and-"

It was then that Luna cut in. "You will have all eternity to do those things, Stormy Girl," she said with a smile. "Why don't we let the newly covenanted enjoy their first night together alone? You can spend the day with us."

I sent Luna a confused look. They hadn't tried to interfere with our covenant ceremony, but that didn't mean that I totally trusted her. Alexander must have been giving her a look too because her expression became slightly irritated.

"Now don't look at me like that. You two are bonded now. What can I do? Besides I'm doing you a favor. This way you don't have to wait to start the honeymoon," she said, smiling mischievously.

Honeymoon? We weren't going away on a honeymoon. I glanced at Alexander who I noticed now had the slightest shade of pink spreading across his cheeks. It was then that the realization dawned on me. I felt my eyes widen, and I knew that I probably looked like a tomato. I hadn't even thought about THAT part.

It was then that I noticed a dark figure walking toward the cemetery gate, his back to us. Trevor Mitchell. I felt the anger rising in my chest, replacing my embarrassment. "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," I said as I started after him, but Alexander stopped me.

"Don't," he said, gently arresting my arm. "Don't let him ruin any more of this night for you. Besides he's lost enough of his dignity already."

I stared after Trevor. It was so strange to think that he would never torment me again, but I had kissed him goodbye, literally. His last attempt had been pitiful. Even though part of me wanted to rub it in his face, I knew that it was time to move on. So I turned back to our small group.

It was then that Jagger spoke up. "Well it's time we got going." He turned to me, smiling sweetly. "I'm happy for you, Raven. You finally got what you really wanted." He leaned closer to me. "If you ever get tired of this guy there'll be a place for you at the Crypt," he said, giving me a suggestive smile.

Suddenly I felt myself being pulled backward by a very annoyed looking Alexander. Jagger only laughed. "Just a joke, man." He turned to his younger siblings. "You guys ready?"

Valentine looks to Stormy hopefully. "You're coming, right?" he said. It seemed to me that he was way too eager to spend some alone time with my new little sister. Billy seemed to notice it too because he had a huge scowl on his face.

Stormy stepped toward the Maxwell's defiantly. "I am going to spend time with Luna and to give Raven and my brother some alone time. Don't get the wrong idea," she half-shouted at Valentine. It was then that my Prince of Darkness squeezed my hand, sending me a questioning look. Somehow I knew what he wanted to ask. I nodded my head to him.

He placed a hand on his little sister's shoulder. "Don't worry about Raven and I," he said. "If you want to go with Luna you can, but if you want to stay with us, we would love to have you."

Stormy looked over at me. "Really?" she questioned me. I nodded, "You know I would love to have you with us." Plus that would help hold off the awkwardness that was sure to come when Alexander and I were finally alone.

I mean, a part of me was so excited to be alone with him, but another part of me was terrified of what was going to happen. I had been so focused on becoming a vampire and starting my new life with my dreamy, gothic prince that I hadn't even thought about THAT. I should have. I knew that we were basically getting married, and those things do go together. How had I been so dense? I was sure that Alexander had probably thought about it, was probably expecting it.

I didn't even know what to think. It was all so nerve-wracking, so I secretly prayed that Stormy would choose to come home with us.

She appeared to be thinking for a bit then she smiled up at Alexander. "I think I'll go with Luna. Thanks though," she said as she ran over to join the Maxwell's.

Alexander smiled at her. "Alright then," he responded. "Have fun, and don't get into trouble."

Stormy waved back at us as their group walked away. "Same to you!" she shouted back. "Raven, make sure my brother doesn't do anything naughty, okay? If he does anything, make sure you tell me so I can kick his butt!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of her trying to beat her tall brother. "Sure," I yelled back, "if you don't mind waiting 'til I'm finished beating him myself."

I could hear her high pitched laugh resounding through the graveyard. "It's a deal," she said. "See you tomorrow!"

When I turned back to the group, the only ones remaining were Sebastian, Becky, Matt, and Billy Boy with Henry. I glanced around us, finding no sign of them even with my enhanced vampire senses. Sebastian must have noticed my puzzlement. "The girls left a little while ago. They kinda felt like they were intruding. Aside from that Scarlet was still fuming over Trevor. She wanted to go dance it off."

I nodded my understanding, and Sebastian continued, "They said they were so excited for you both and couldn't wait to hang out with Raven more in the future." He grinned slightly. "I'm sure they're already planning a girl's night."

It was at just that moment that my little brother released a long yawn, which he tried to hide, followed shortly by one from Henry. I couldn't hold back my smile. "I think it's time you two got home," I said. Somehow I just knew that it was very close to 10:00PM. "Mom and Dad will be coming home soon. It would be bad if we are both missing when they get there."

"But what am I supposed to tell them about where you are?" Billy protested. "You know I'm not good at lying."

"Then don't lie," I said. "Tell them that I left just before sunset and that I hadn't come back yet. If you really feel the need to say anything more than that, just tell them that maybe I decided to spend the night at a friend's house. It's not a lie."

Billy seemed to be considering this carefully. "I guess…" he replied sheepishly.

Alexander met my baby brother's eyes. "Don't worry, Billy. I wouldn't dream of dishonoring your parents. We will tell them the full truth, just not tonight. Are you okay with that?"

Billy nodded. "I can't lie well, but I can keep a secret when I need too."

My dark prince smiled at him. "Thank you. Now, your sister is right. It's time you two got back to your house," he said, motioning to Henry. He then looked to Matt. "Make sure they get back alright?"

Matted nodded his affirmation then turned his attention to Becky. "You ready?" he questioned. She gave him a huge grin and began to follow him from the graveyard with the boys on her tail. I knew she was probably glad to be away from such a wonderfully creepy place. It's a shame. I could have stayed forever.

Sebastian grinned at Alexander and I like an overexcited school boy. "Well, looks like it's just us," he said. Then there was silence between us. Alexander smiled at his friend and slipped his arm around my waist. Immediately I felt the unspoken tension of wanting to be completely alone with my dreamy vampire knight, while at the same time being overcome by nervousness. I didn't know what to do. I had never been so nervous in my life. So I just stood there, letting the time dwindle away.

Finally Sebastian broke our trance. "Just get out of here you two," he commanded. "Enjoy your time together. I will take care of the clean up here."

I looked around at the beautifully decorated cemetery. "Can't we leave it?" I asked. "Everything is so beautiful, and you worked so hard on it," I said turning to Alexander.

He smiled gently and stroked my hair. "It's alright, Raven. We don't want to give the grave keeper any trouble."

I had to admit he was right. "But still, I can't leave you here to clean up by yourself," I pleaded with Sebastian. However, he looked totally unconcerned.

"Don't give me a second thought, Raven. Call this my covenant present to you. Have a good time tonight," he said, gently nudging us away from the memorial.

Alexander gave him a glorious smile. "Thanks, Sebastian. You'll come by later to take care of what we talked about?" he asked.

Sebastian started grinning from ear to ear. I looked back and forth between the two young men. Neither of them answered my questioning look; they only continued their conversation.

"Of course," said Sebastian, "I wouldn't miss out on that for anything. I'll see you two tomorrow. Now get going already."

"Don't have to tell me twice," I heard a deep, dreamy, baritone voice say as a gentle yet strong hand grasps mine. Alexander tugged me along beside him away from his grandmother's monument.

When we had passed several tombstones, I heard Sebastian call out to us again. "Don't go too hard for your first day together. Try to get at least a little sleep, okay!"

I felt the heat rise in my cheeks and could hear Sebastian's laughter. Alexander was as cool and collected as ever. He only raised his hand to his friend in acknowledgement and kept walking.

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**This is my first Vampire Kisses fanfic. Please review. I love new ideas.**


	2. A Moonlight Stroll

The night was perfect. The cemetery was bathed in moonlight. I was amazed at how far I would see in the darkness. It was the way I remembered the daylight to be, only everything had been painted in beautiful shades of blue, white, and black. It was breathtaking. It was no wonder to me now that my gothic prince had been able to paint so beautifully if this is the world that he saw all the time. This world was better than I had ever imagined.

But what made everything worthwhile was the presence of my oh so dreamy vampire boyfrie— scratch that, husband who was now tugging me along after him, his fingers intertwined with mine. I would have wanted to share this with no one else. He had a gorgeous smile on his face. He looked so happy. In fact, it may have been the happiest I'd ever seen him. His purest white fangs glistened in the light of the waning Spring moon. I found myself entranced by it. I realized I was staring at him, but I couldn't help it. He was beautiful, and his jovial spirit was contagious. I felt that I could bask in this smile forever.

"What is it?" he questioned when he caught me looking.

I shook my head and turned to look straight ahead. It was then that I noticed that we were coming to the end of the mowed over and clean cut cemetery. I found myself looking into a tightly wooded area.

I turned to Alexander. "Where are we going?" I asked. "This isn't the way back to the Mansion."

He answered me with an almost shy smirk, the right corner of his red lips lifting to subtly tease me. "I thought you might appreciate a nice moonlit stroll," he responded, a wonderful glimmer in his deep brown eyes. They shone with an excitement I had never seen in my gothic prince before.

"After all," he continued, "this will be the first time that I don't have to return you to your parents' home before the night even gets started." He smiled down at me, and I couldn't suppress a grin from spreading across my own cheeks. We could finally really be together without obligation to anyone else.

Now I slid my arm into the crook of his elbow, resting my head against his shoulder as we continued down the unbeaten path. It was then that I became acutely aware of his scent. It was an earthy scent. There was a very faint musk that I recognized as his cologne mixed with the oily odor of paint, but there was something else. As subtly as I could I turned my nose into his shoulder and took a long whiff.

Suddenly I felt every nerve in my body prickle. It was as if all of my limbs went numb at the same time. If I hadn't been leaning on Alexander I would surely have collapsed. It was the mouth-watering fragrance of liquid iron, Alexander's blood. I could feel the back of my throat grow parched as a desert plain and my mouth began to water.

Alexander felt the sudden shift as I temporarily lost the use of my legs. He moved to stand directly in front of me, firmly grasping both of my shoulders. When I saw him I swallowed hard. He looked at me with concerned eyes. "Are you alright?"

I barely heard him. I forced myself to swallow again, trying to calm the burning in my throat. When had Alexander taken off his tie? It mattered very little now. Without the restricting piece of cloth his shirt hung open halfway down his pale chest, the collar drooping lazily into his shoulders, revealing the enticing veins which rippled over the muscles of his neck. I could almost see the movement of the sweet nectar that I knew flowed just under that incredibly thin, oh so bitable layer of skin. I felt myself begin to lean into him. I heard him call my name, but I couldn't even string together the words to form a response. I was totally engrossed by what was in front of me. The thirst was all-consuming.

It was then that I heard a very soft, deep chuckle. I was just beginning to pull myself out of my trance to see what he was laughing at when he stepped into me, stooping down just enough to scoop me into his arms and placing my head into the crook of his neck. I felt my body turn to putty as I melted into him, taking in Alexander with every fiber of my being; his scent, his touch, and finally taste.

I have no idea exactly when I sank my teeth into his tender flesh. I just knew that I couldn't get enough of him. And I had thought that it was amazing when he bit me!

As the thirst abated I began to get this tingly warm feeling in the pit of my stomach. I contracted my fangs and began to lick up the excess blood that had seeped from my dark prince's wound, my fingers now tangled in his silky hair. I heard -and felt- him purr in satisfaction. A wide smile spread across my face, and the tingles in the pit of my stomach intensified.

I carefully placed gentle kisses on his bite mark that now matched mine, slowly and deliberately kissing up his neck and across his jaw. He let out a purr again before claiming my lips with his own. I felt him carry me another step before my back came into contact with a very solid, very cold surface.

I gasped in surprise, but Alexander didn't give me the time to satisfy my curiosity. His tongue darted into my mouth with an intensity and a passion that I had never experienced with Alexander before, that had never even been possible before.

I pulled back first, resting my head against the cold slab behind me, trying to keep myself from getting lost in the moment. "You've been holding out on me," I teased him breathlessly.

He took the opportunity to place a hickey on my left collarbone. "What are you talking about?" he questioned me.

I couldn't help but let out a small grunt of pleasure at his ministrations. "You've never kissed me like this before," I managed to groan out as his leg slip up my thighs, lifting the hem of my dress and pressing between my legs, giving me something to brace myself against so Alexander could have full use of his hands.

"That's because," he breathed out between kisses, "before if I did this with you I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to turn you." He placed one hand against the bite he had given me, gently caressing the spot with his thumb.

I couldn't help but gasp when I felt the pressure of his other hand suddenly appear just below my breast. I held my breath as he kissed down my chest, tugging at my bodice and revealing more and more of my previously hidden cleavage.

It was when I thought that he couldn't possibly get bodice any lower that I felt his leg shift. He began slowly and very intentionally to rub me with his leg, and with nothing between us but my now wet underwear, it was all I would do to contain the moans that threatened to burst from my lungs. And if what I felt pressing against my thigh was any indication, he was enjoying touching me just as much as I was enjoying being touched.

In that moment I realized that all my nervousness for sex was gone. I wanted; no, I needed him. I slowly moved my hands down from Alexander's now very tangled hair to begin unbuttoning his shirt. He began to help me as he inclined his head to catch my lips with his once again.

I had just managed to clear his shoulders when heard a nocturnal bird call above us.

Then there was a splat.

Everything stopped. I felt my prince pull away from me before I opened my eyes.

A bird had just pooped on Alexander!

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**Sorry for the wait. This chapter was hard to write, but I hope you enjoyed it. Please Review!**

**Also, what do you think of the current rating? Should it be changed to M? I don't want to scar anybody.**


	3. Home

**Sorry for taking so long to update. Work on top of school on top of writer's block. I hope you enjoy it. **

**If it's horrible or if it's great, please tell me.**

**Suggestions are welcome too.**

**This chapter is mostly fluff, but it's cute fluff.**

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Alexander could feel the sticky white goop spreading through his hair as he pulled away from Raven, his brain trying to register what had just happened. He watched as his bride's eyes fluttered open, confused by the sudden interruption.

Raven's eyes grew wide with surprise, her mouth forming a wide 'O' before spreading into a gentle laugh. Alexander could feel the embarrassment rising to his cheeks and reddening his ears.

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I tried to stifle my laughter. Really, I did. I just couldn't help it. The whole situation was so funny. I doubled over with laughter and could feel the water welling up on my eyelids.

"I'm sorry," I began. "It's just that…" I couldn't even finish my sentence! When I looked back at Alexander it just set off a whole new round of giggles. Alexander just stood there with a blank look on his face. I could tell he was still totally stunned. I began to worry that I had offended him by laughing so hard. Suddenly Alexander's thin lips spread into a grin, and before I know it the most wonderful bubbling laughter that I've ever heard spills forth from his lips.

Finally after several minutes of uncontrollable laughter, Alexander reached out and took my hand. "Let's get back to the mansion," he said as he began to lead me along again. The two of us talked good-naturedly as we navigated our way to our home, _our_ home, which we would now truly share together for the first time.

It was all so exciting to finally be moving into the mansion with Alexander. We would finally be able to share a life together, the life I had always dreamed of.

After about twenty minutes of walking through the wood I began to see a familiar silhouette through the trees. Soon we found ourselves at the backyard of our wonderfully creepy mansion. I stopped at the tree line, taking in the moment.

The old house was the most beautiful I had ever seen it. All was dark, but with my new eyes I could see everything clearly. The moonlight painted the grass with a silver sheen, and the many cobwebs hanging from the windowsills of the mansion glistened like strings of the purest silver.

I felt Alexander squeeze my hand. I turned to see my dark prince gazing at me. He extended his hand toward the darkened manor. "Shall we go, my dear?" he questioned. I smile and squeezed his hand in return.

I had just taken my first step when I felt something scoop up my legs. Alexander's strong arms slid behind my back and under my knees. He carried me like a ghoulish princess across the backyard, past our gazebo, and up the creaky steps to the groaning, wooden door of our wonderfully decrepit home. At a light touch from my knight of the night the heavy door opened with a gloriously long, hair prickling squeak, and he stepped across the threshold with me in his arms.

I giggled at our unexpected practice of the old tradition. Alexander smiled down at me, his fangs glimmering in the moonlight that streamed in through the open door. "I am nothing if not old fashioned," he said. I smiled. That was just like him.

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised you didn't try to ask my parents for my hand," I giggled.

"I would have," Alexander began as he started up the stairs from the parlor, "had we waited." He turned down the hallway of the second floor and continued, "When you graduated I would have talked with your father and asked him for his permission to marry you. When I would have taken you out on some really extravagant date and presented you with a ring, and we would have had a proper engagement. Then we would get married. All of our friends and family would be there. They would wish us well. There would be laughter and tears, and at the end of the party I would take you back to the cemetery." Alexander opened a door to a room I didn't recognize.

The room was large. Thick black curtains hung over the windows. On the far side of the room was a large four poster bed covered with black and red satin sheets and overshadowed by a sheer black satin veil. On each side of the large bed was an antique nightstand. Aside from that the room was completely bare. The wooden floor creaked as Alexander walked toward the bed. As he sat me down in the middle of thick mattress he leaned over to whisper sexily into my ear, "And then we would be bonded for eternity."

He began to place soft kisses down my neck. I felt my entire body relax as Alexander laid me down onto the bed. I was so ready to surrender myself to him, but my curiosity was still strong. "What made you change your mind?" I asked.

He kissed me long. I could feel the eagerness in his kiss so strongly, every muscle in my body tensed and my nerves stood on end. We were both breathing heavily when he pulled away. "I got impatient," he gasped, moving to place small vampiric love bites down my chest as his hands skillfully unfastened my dress.

My eyes grew wide and all my nervousness was back. It felt like every bat in the world was flying around in my stomach. My cheeks were burning. "Alexander," I started. When he didn't stop I reached for his hair to get his attention. However instead of velvet soft locks my fingers squished into mushy bird droppings. That was when the stench hit my nostrils.

"You smell like bird poop," I finished. Alexander's whole body shook with laughter as he once again sat up. "I suppose I'll be going to take a shower then," he said good-naturedly. He began to walk toward a door on the other side of the room that I had been too distracted to notice until now. As he reached for the door handle I called out to him. "Do you regret it? Turning me so soon."

He turned to face me with a big smile on his face. "Not one bit," he said. I smiled back at him, and he turned away to go take a shower.

I continued to smile to myself, collapsing back onto the bed. "I love that man."

* * *

The bats in my stomach had calmed down a little bit, but I was still nervous. I began to look around the room to distract myself. The good part was that there wasn't much to look at. That meant that it a lot of potential. It was like a blank slate which made me very excited.

It was then that I noticed how incredibly high I was. The top mattress must have sat nearly a meter and a half off the ground. I got up to look under the bed to see what was available in the way of storage space, but I was disappointed to find that there was a high baseboard that connected the mattress base to the floor. I decided to check around the edges to see if it was hollow on the inside. Granted I could wait for Alexander to get out of the shower, but then I would be left alone with my thoughts again and that could only end in my turning as red as a blood cherry and melting into a pile of mush. I needed a distraction.

So I felt along the edge of the baseboard and the mattress base looking for any crack in the wood. Suddenly I felt a lever about half a meter from the bottom of the bed. I felt my eyebrows wrinkle as my fingers clasped the strange cold metal.

I pulled the odd thing down, and to me surprise it came very easily. Suddenly the whole bed shifted, lifting up on one side to reveal a second fully furnished bed underneath the first; however, this one looked very much like a coffin. Very much like a coffin indeed. I began to smile in spite of myself. It was perfect.

It was then that I felt two strong arms snake around my torso and an angular chin come to rest on my shoulder. His freshly showered scent wafted into the room like a cloud, filling my nostrils, inviting me to relax into it. I allowed myself to melt into my dark prince's toned body. "I see you found it," Alexander whispered to me, "our real bed."

I nodded. "The other is just for show," I said, more as a statement than a question. My bare shoulders came into contact with Alexander's naked torso, and I could feel him purr his pleasure. He gave a deep chuckle and kissed the crook of my neck where you could still see the bite mark he had left earlier. "It's for whatever we want it to be for," he breathed huskily.

I felt like my heart was about to leap out of my chest. All of the bats were awake and flying about again. I wanted so badly to be with Alexander, but it was still nerve-wracking. I turned to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You promise to take care of me," I said, "'til death do us part?"

The king of my heart smiled lovingly. "Much longer than that, my dear." He took a lock of my hair between his fingers and kissed it. "From this night forward, for all eternity, you are mine."

Then he kissed me, and I felt every drop of passion that had lain behind those words. We kissed until I felt dizzy.

I have no idea when we stopped.


	4. Dream Upon Waking: Hangovers & Lovebites

First, to deal with an inconsistency, I realized that in Ch 2 I mentioned that it was Spring time; however, after rereading "Immortal Hearts" I realized this should actually be set just after Halloween, thus at the end of Autumn. I will continue this fanfic based on the book's timeline. Sorry about that.

Also, please forgive the long break. I am already working on chapter 5. We will finally start getting into the meat of the story. These characters are so naturally fluffy, so there is a lot of Alexander/Raven fluff to get though.

Please continue to leave reviews. I am grateful for your response.

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My head was throbbing. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and snuggled into my warm pillow, willing the pulsing to subside. It was then that my pillow rumbled softly beneath me accompanied by what sounded almost like a chuckle, and I felt long, slender fingers comb through my hair.

"Finally awake, my dear?" came a melodic baritone voice. I began to smile in spite of myself and cuddled further into my dark king's embrace. "Not yet," I whispered.

Then there came a succession of loud shrieks that seemed to echo through the creaky manor and penetrate the haven that was our casket. I nearly jumped out of bed. I might have, had my head not collided with the ceiling of the coffin. Thank goodness it was padded.

Every muscle in my body screamed in protest at the sudden movement, and I found myself wincing in pain. I covered my ears with my hands. It muffled the sound, but did nothing to stop the throbbing of my head.

"What is that?" I questioned Alexander, who I noted had a distinct expression of annoyance on his face.

He held up his finger for me to wait. After what seemed like an eternity the wailing finally stopped.

"That," he said, propping up on his elbows, "was a particularly obnoxious wake up call." When I gave him what I thought was an inquisitive look he continued, "When I was younger I didn't always like to get up early, so if I ever stayed in bed past midnight the alarm would go off every five minutes until I was forced to get up, but it was supposed to have been disabled ages ago. I haven't 'slept in' in years."

Saying that Alexander looked put out would be an understatement. He must have noticed my surprise at his adverse reaction to the alarm because he looked up at me meaningfully. "I don't like being interrupted," he stated before rising to give me a long, breathy kiss.

He pulled away ever so slightly, his razor-like fangs tracing my swollen lower lip. His firm hands tracing over my bare skin lit a fire in the pit of my stomach, and I found myself pressed against his hard torso, kissing him with all my might.

Then the shrieking returned. I felt myself jump again, but Alexander's strong arms held me in place. I felt his breath on my lips as he gave an exasperated huff. "I guess we'd better get up," he sighed.

My knight of the night pushed a button at the edge of the coffin lid and it swung upon. "Sometimes," he said, "you gotta love modern technology." He sat up straight for the first time and began to stretch his arms and shoulders, watching me intently as he did so. At the same moment I felt the chilled November air from the outside world come into contact with my bare skin.

I felt my cheeks begin to burn as I realized exactly what Alexander was looking at. Suddenly now exposed to the world outside our coffin, I felt the desperate need to cover myself. I grabbed the silky black bed sheet in a weak attempt only to uncover my groom's previously covered lower half. What I saw only made my face burn all the more, and my abs screamed in protest as I turned away from him.

My gothic knight's deep, rumbling chuckle reached my ears before his arms encircled me. "Don't be like that, love," he whispered to me in a pouty voice. "It's cold when you steal the covers like that," he said childishly, pulling the silky sheets from my clutched hands and resting his forehead just behind my left ear so I could feel his warm breath on my naked shoulder.

"Besides," he continued. I shivered as I felt his warm tongue slither up my neck and over the shell of my left ear. "After last day I'd say there's not much to be embarrassed over."

He shifted to kiss my cheek before rising out of our casket-shaped bed, leaving me fighting to keep my breath even. My eyes followed my gothic prince as he crossed the room to retrieve his clothes from the bathroom which had been abandoned the night before. He was beautiful, his sickly pale skin painted an almost glowing shade of blue in the darkness.

It was only then that I looked down at my own now exposed body which to my surprise was covered in bite marks.

"What the heck, Alexander!" I exclaimed, shocked by the number of wounds covering my body. I was at eleven and still counting. All thoughts of covering my nakedness were abandoned at this point as I stood to examine myself more closely.

The perpetrator himself emerged from the bathroom halfway through buttoning up his pants. "What is all this?" I demanded.

When he realized what I was talking about he only gave a small laugh. "You didn't seem at all opposed at the time," he said as he approached me. "In fact," he whispered huskily, "if memory serves, you seemed to quite enjoy it."

I desperately wanted to deny it, but as the memories of last night flooded my brain it was all I could do to keep myself from melting into a blood red puddle of embarrassment. My dark prince handed me the shirt he had worn last night before moving to pick up my discarded dress from the floor.

"Besides," he continued, "you weren't exactly gentle either."

That did it. I wanted so badly to just collapse back into the bed and never be seen again. I settled for covering my face with the shirt. It was true. I didn't even remember how many times I had bitten Alexander last day, and he had the bite wounds to prove it, just as I did. I knew I shouldn't be this embarrassed. He was my husband now after all, but I had no idea how I was supposed to react to this situation.

Graciously Alexander interrupted my thoughts. "Put that shirt on for now, until we can get upstairs to find something better for you."

Resigning myself to the fact that we would eventually have to leave this room I obeyed.

"Do you think that when we get down stairs I can get some aspirin?" I asked. "My head is killing me."

My dreamy knight of the night only laughed. "Sure." He extended his hand to help me out of our coffin. I took it and felt my face wrinkle in pain as I stepped over the short wall and onto the floor.

Alexander sent me a concerned look. "Are you alright?" he questioned. He really noticed everything.

I almost laughed. I might have had my head not been throbbing so fiercely. "It's your fault," I accused. "I'm sore all over."

* * *

Half an hour later after showering and dressing in fresh clothes from my gothic husband's closet, we descended the stairs hand in hand. My groom wore his usual casual clothes, while I had decided on an oversized black band hoodie and a smaller pair of Alexander's black gym shorts, no shoes required.

Waiting for us in the dining room was one very bored looking Sebastian, his dread locks tied back in a ponytail. My gothic knight's best friend stood when he saw us. "Well it's about time," he said, "You wouldn't believe how hard it was to enable that stupid alarm."

I sent Sebastian a particularly evil glare that I hoped communicated everything I was screaming in my head.

My true love's best friend only smiled pleasantly at us. "Don't look like that. It takes away from the glowing newlywed look," he laughed. "Anyway Stormy will be back in a few hours. Do you really want her to be the one walking in on you?"

Alexander glared at him. "Just wait 'til it's your turn," he breathed threateningly.

"Won't happen, man," Sebastian laughed. "When I decide to settle down, I'll be taking a long honeymoon somewhere far away from possible interruptions." He settled back down into his chair and motioned for us to follow suit. "So it's really your own fault for staying here," he finished.

Alexander sat down at the head of the table, and I had just settled into the seat across from Sebastian when Jameson entered the room carrying a tray holding two glasses of what looked like bubbling water. He set one on the table next to Alexander's hand and gave the second to me. Aspirin.

I smiled up at the kind old man. "Thank you, Jameson. How did you know?"

The butler inclined his head to me before responding, "Forgive me for being so forward, Mistress Raven, but I have been around long enough to know a blood hangover when I see one."

I got the basic idea of what a blood hangover was when Sebastian burst into laughter and clapped Alexander on the back, the sudden outbreak causing both of us to wince. Loud noises and throbbing headaches were not a good combination.

"It sounds like you two had a fun day," Sebastian said as he began doing an exaggerated search of Alexander's neck apparently probing for evidence of last day's events. I gulped down the aspirin in an attempt to ignore blond-headed grinning nuisance and hopefully hide my own reddening cheeks as Jameson retreated back into the kitchen. I usually enjoyed Sebastian's fun-loving attitude, but tonight I was just not in the mood.

Alexander drained the last of his glass before turning to his friend. "Do you have it?" he questioned.

I cocked my head in question. Sebastian gave us both a toothy grin as he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Alexander. "Everything is in place," he said. "All you have to do is turn this into the office when you arrive."

My dark king's pale red lips spread into a grin as he looked over the document. "Thanks," he said, his long fangs peeking through as he turned his beaming smile on me. He extended the paper toward me. "Take a look," he said, his eyes gleaming.

I carefully took the paper from his spidery white fingers. I felt my eyes grow wide when I saw the heading. I looked up at my knight of the night in shock. I know I really shouldn't have been so surprised. It made perfect sense, but still… "This is a marriage registration form," I began, dropping the document face-up on the table.

Alexander nodded, smiling at me and took my hand in his. "I thought as it is already official," he began, intertwining his long fingers with my pale black tipped ones, "we may as well make it legal."

He lifted our connected hands to his lips and gently kissed the soft skin covering the back of my hand. His voice dropped into a tone that was somewhere between comforting and threatening. "I won't give anyone an excuse to take you away from me," he said. I felt my whole body quiver as his deep brown eyes bore into me.

What was that? I managed to shake it off to smile back at him.

I laid my head against his cold palm. "I'm not going anywhere," I reassured him, and his smile grew, exposing his razor-like fangs gleaming red in the candlelight.

* * *

**I plan to start a "Tips for Writing Accurate Vampire Kisses Fanfiction" section, all meant to be humorous of course. I will give one tip for every chapter. Please tell me what you think of them.**

**The 1st is this:**

**Make sure that the main character is an incredibly immature teenage girl who would be so excited to become a vampire that she completely forgets that she will no longer be able to live at home and doesn't bring so much as a purse with her to her covenant ceremony. Thus she has nothing but a ridiculously fancy Halloween dress and her love for her boyfriend. She's a basic Juliet archetype.**


	5. Honeymooner's Fever

_I apologize for the long wait. I had almost finished this chapter when my computer of five years gave out. It was beyond revival, so I had to start over from scratch. I hope that this doesn't become a trend._

_Also, I realized that my 'Tip" from last chapter was in poor taste and have decided to discontinue them._

_I have been binge re-reading the Vampire Kisses series, so I hope that this story's accuracy to the canon will improve._

_Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it. Without your reviews I would probably have abandoned this story long ago, so please continue._ :)

* * *

The old grandfather clock in the hallway had just begun to strike the tolls that signaled midnight was still an hour away. The only light that penetrated this world of gray wood floors and blue tinted, white walls came from the crack below the door to the study as the man of the house often 'burned the candle at both ends'. His wife by comparison was always in bed early. Trevor knew she would be sound asleep by now.

The well-built, muscled teen lay face down on his bed, unmoving, his feet suspended over the edge. Black clothes lay in a heap at the bottom of the bed, discarded in a fit of rage sometime during the wee hours of the morning. A small pile of fake piercings sat on his night stand. The boy turned his head away from them as if he were attempting to avoid a bad memory, only to feel the sticky streaks of spray-in black hair dye that now stained his baby blue pillow case.

His mother had been furious when he had walked into the kitchen around lunch time. He wouldn't have gone in the first place had she not already been pounding on his door telling him that even if it was a Sunday he had no good reason to sleep in until noon. The fact that he had been out late was not lost on his parents, but it was the house rule that you didn't sleep past 10AM, no matter how irresponsible you had been on the night before. So when Trevor finally left his bedroom at 15 'til noon with sticky black hair, black finger nails, and a silver lip ring, his mother had nearly fainted. It was just lucky that the stupid raven tattoo had remained hidden under his shirt sleeve, or else she would have really let him have it.

The blond teenager sighed and rubbed his eyes. Dark residue remained on his fingers when he withdrew them. Apparently his mom's make-up remover hadn't been enough to get all the eye liner off. It seemed like everywhere he looked he was reminded of his idiocy. What had he been thinking? Probably the same thing he had been thinking when he had bid $3000 of his dad's money to buy a portrait of the very same girl who had always done nothing but despise him. Boy, had he gotten an ear-full for that one.

And it was this same girl that for reasons he didn't fully understand that continued to cause him to go out of his way to do all kinds of insanely stupid things.

It seemed like it was so long ago that he had overheard Becky telling his best friend about the ceremony that was going to be held that night in the graveyard, though he knew it had only been yesterday. He still wasn't sure what had come over him in that moment. He heard the freckled girl say something about a Romanian marriage ceremony, and before he knew what he was doing, he had hidden behind the soccer field bleachers to ensure that he'd be able to listen to the whole conversation.

He had only been able to hear bits and pieces since the obnoxiously gooey pair were whispering and standing so close together they could have just been another couple making out in the school bleachers after a scrimmage. Still the bits had been enough for Trevor to piece together the main idea of what was about to go down.

Covenant, Alexander, Bite, Bonded, Ritual, Eternity, Vampire.

Trevor's mind had flashed back to last year's Graveyard Gala where Luna had tried to have a covenant ceremony. He remembered Luna and Jagger's reaction to the soccer team that night. It was just after they had all taken garlic tablets…

The blond had nearly collapsed against the wall as memories flooded his brain; of Jagger pulling Raven up onto the stage at the Crypt, of all the times he had heard a whispered word here and a completely vague excuse there. He thought of all the times Raven had defended her freak against his accusations of him being a vampire and of all the times the same girl had warned him against the pale-haired twins, even going so far as to tell him they were vampires.

He remembered how his eyes had seemed to pop out of his head when the realization dawned on him. It was all true.

Trevor had barely been able to recover enough to catch the end of the conversation as the couple separated and began to walk away.

"Will you be okay?" Matt had asked. "I know you don't do so well with cemeteries, or blood," he had added with a small laugh.

Matt's girlfriend had elbowed him in the ribs at that. "I'll be fine," she had insisted. "This is my best friend we are talking about. There's no way I could miss this, and since it's not til tonight I still have a few hours to prepare my mind."

Becky's final comment had been so quiet; Trevor had barely been able to understand her.

"Besides, surely since it's just one bite, there won't be too much blood, and I can just squeeze your hand really hard it I get queasy." Becky had laughed and smiled at Matt good-naturedly. She went on to gush about how she had gone shopping with Raven yesterday and how beautiful she was going to look, when they couple finally passed out of Trevor's earshot.

If Raven was going to be bitten by a real vampire, he had to put a stop to it, but sunset was only 4 hours, maybe 5 hours away at best.

The blond had spent the next hour going over everything in his mind as he drove home and cleaned up after being all sweaty from playing soccer. He had sat down at his desk and written out everything he knew, had overheard, or suspected about the Sterlings, the Maxwells, and everyone else in Raven and her freak boyfriend's group of friends.

By the time he was finished he had developed a complete chart of what he knew to be true about vampires, who he knew was a vampire, who he suspected to be a vampire –which he would treat as confirmed vampires, just for the sake of keeping it simple until he was proven otherwise- what it took to become a vampire, and everything he had gathered about covenant ceremonies.

Deciding that this was not enough he had opened his computer to do some extra research. Most of the websites he looked at were bogus, but when he cross-referenced 'vampire' with 'covenant ceremony' he found something interesting. The site made reference to a bunch of old myths and some vampire movie called 'Kissing Coffins'. Really there wasn't that much information, but what was there seemed to coincide with what Trevor had already theorized himself. That is except for some random legend about werewolves in some town named Legend's Run, but who knows? If vampires really existed, who's to say werewolves didn't too. Trevor was just about ready to believe anything by that point.

The only new information he found was that a covenant ceremony had to take place on sacred ground. That had explained the grave yard and why Raven had been yelling about sacred ground during what he had written off at the time as a 'weird foreign custom'. Trevor's mind had raced back to Raven's birthday trying to pull out of his memory everything he could about covenant ceremonies. Luna and Alexander's friend had been halfway through a mock covenant ceremony when Raven started shouting about sacred ground and everything went sour. It didn't take much to put two and two together if you didn't mind believing the crazy.

The blond teenager heard the grandfather clock strike 12 through his bedroom door. He remembered how in the frenzy of the final 2 hours before sunset he had come up with a completely insane plan and had somehow talked himself into believing that it would work. He couldn't remember his reasoning now though and it hardly mattered. Trevor covered his eyes with his forearm and let out a big sigh. "Well, you saw how that worked out," he thought to himself bitterly.

Still a part of him held out hope. Maybe all this vampire stuff was really just a big trick or it really was all some weird Romanian tradition. Tomorrow was Monday. Surely when he went to school tomorrow, Raven would be at her usual desk snoozing away.

Surely…

* * *

"So, where are we going?" I asked, a toothy grin spreading across my face. My gothic vampire mate returned my grin.

"Well," he began, sliding his silky smooth fingers up my arm and tracing the arc of my shoulder to the place where he had marked me forever only the night before. Every nerve in my body stood on end at his touch, "I know we didn't talk about it, but I thought it might be good for us to take a short honeymoon after all." Alexander sent me a quick meaningful glance, his icy fingers traced circles around my vampire bite. It took all my energy not to swoon in front of Sebastian.

"Besides," Alexander went on, "this will give you an opportunity to get acclimated to your new life without the 'home field distractions' as Matt would put it."

I couldn't help but laugh. It was funny to see how my -soon to be legal- husband had built such a friendly relationship with my best friend's boyfriend even though they were so different. They were both pretty mellow so I guess they did have that, I thought to myself. Then I remembered how passionate Alexander could be, and I felt my face flush. I made a mental note to ask Becky about Matt later.

A soft squeeze on my shoulder and a concerned look from Alexander brought me back from my thoughts. I felt my face go hot from embarrassment, but tried to cover it with a smile. I took my mate's hand in my own. "You are the sweetest," I said, as I leaned over the corner of the table to give him a deep kiss, no longer caring that Sebastian was still in the room. In fact, after a few seconds I forgot about his presence all together and crawled into Alexander's lap. My gothic king must have forgotten him too, because the moment I was in his lap, Alexander's solid arms wrapped around me like a vice. I stifled a moan as his tongue slid across my fangs. I faintly heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, but I chose to ignore it. I wanted to try something.

I nipped at Alexander's lower lip with my fangs and was rewarded with the taste of my mate's blood. He barely even flinched and instead deepened the kiss, letting me enjoy the taste of his blood while our tongues danced.

Alexander had just begun planting kisses down my neck when the screeching alarm began again, this time coming from a small speaker that Sebastian had apparently gone to retrieve from the TV room and was now holding next to our ears. Alexander's hands flew to my ears to protect them from the offensive sound, just as his head snapped to Sebastian. I couldn't help but stare at my lover. His eyes glowed red and he hissed disdainfully at his best friend.

"Is that really necessary?" he said in a dangerous tone.

I could feel the anger boiling under his skin. Not in the way I would feel body heat under my fingers. His skin remained as deliciously cold as death. It was more like the heat from a fire, the kind that engulfs you in its warmth. However these flames were not the comforting warmth of a fire place. They were an all-consuming rage. "Did Alexander always have these feelings inside of him?" I wondered.

Sebastian turned off the revolting sound and settled back into his chair with a huff. "Well, nothing else was working," he retorted.

I ran my fingers through my dark king's hair and felt his body relax underneath mine. His eyes began to melt into their usual deep brown as he turned back to me. There was still a hint of crimson mixed with the chocolate color of his irises when he closed his eyes and laid his forehead against mine, taking a deep breathe. The fire that had nearly engulfed my love slowly began to abate. I continued to run my fingers through his hair in a way that I hoped was comforting. I could tell from the thick layer of shame that settled in my mind that he didn't like being angry.

When he finally opened his eyes they had returned to the deep, soulful brown that I had grown to love. He gave me a soft smile. "I'm sorry," he began, lifting his hand to stroke my head gently, "Did I scare you?"

I shook my head emphatically and gave him a huge grin, wanting to ease his mind. "If I had gotten the full brunt of that attack I probably would have reacted the same way," I said with a small laugh. I glanced at Sebastian.

Alexander turned back to his best friend. "Dude, just please don't do that again."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but offered the two of us a grin. "Alright, I got it. Just as long as you two keep the PDA in check," he said looking at us expectedly. I looked to Alexander who gave his friend a confirmatory nod.

I turned myself in my husband's lap so that I could lean back against his hard torso, turning a small pout on Sebastian. "I guess I can try to contain myself," I told him with a playful whine in my voice.

That got me a soft chuckle from my gothic knight and a gentle nuzzle, his head resting in the crook of my neck.

Sebastian rolled his eyes again. "I'm serious you guys. Save if for the honeymoon. Then you can play with each other to your heart's content, but for now, Alexander, I can't believe I'm saying this to you, try to be considerate of others."

Alexander hugged me closer to him. "Don't worry, Seb," he said just before planting a soft peck on my shoulder. "When Stormy gets back, I promise our behavior will be completely PG."

"What about me?" Sebastian exclaimed. "What about my sanity?"

"You're like my brother. I know you can deal," Alexander said before shifting to nibble playfully at my neck. I smiled softly to him, giggling at his antics.

Sebastian scowled at us. "Glad to know I'm held in such high esteem," he grumbled, the sarcasm heavy in his voice.

Just then we heard the thud of the heavy serpent doorknocker. Sebastian immediately jumped up. "I'll get it," he said. He then proceeded to point to the two of us like a teacher would to a pair of unruly children. "Remember you promised. PG."

I raised my hand in salute. "Yes, sir," I said in a clipped voice. Alexander put his hand up too. "Scout's honor," he voiced.

That seemed to satisfy Sebastian who ran from the dining room to the entryway, as my knight of the night and I stood up. "I didn't know you were a boy scout," I said, giving him a questioning look.

He grinned at me seductively, "I wasn't," and he kissed me.

* * *

_I know it's been forever. Please don't give up on me. Chapter 6 is finished and is currently being edited. _

**_Also I added in that bit about Trevor specifically because someon__e asked about him. _**

**_Please tell me what you think._**


	6. Friends, Frenemies, and Bed Head

We had a five second warning.

Jagger's voice came from the doorway, "A storm is coming in 5, 4, 3…"

I had just enough time to wipe my mouth and smooth out my hair before Stormy ran into the room. Alexander smiled and opened his arms for his sister. She jumped into them with a huge grin on her face.

"Hey, sis," the tall vampire grinned down at her.

She returned his greeting with a smile and turned to give me a small hug as well. When she pulled away I noticed she gave me a kind of funny look, like I had food stuck in my teeth and she wasn't sure is she should tell me. Of course I knew this wasn't the case, as the only nutrients I had had in more than 24 hours was my new mate's blood.

Still when she turned back to her brother with a smile, I dismissed it. "Did you two have a good day yesterday?" she asked.

Alexander beamed from ear to ear and wrapped his left arm around my waist, his long, spidery fingers caressing my hip. As soon as he touched me I felt a gentle, dull burn engulf me; his happiness, fueled by a deeper fire that I knew was being suppressed for the sake of not exposing a minor to inappropriate sexual content.

"Very good," he responded with a slight purr in his voice. I caught myself leaning against him, basking in his glow, memories of our most recent lip lock still in my mind.

I saw Jagger grin knowingly, even as he rolled his eyes at us. I felt my face burn. Of course it was obvious what Alexander and I had been doing for the past 24 hours. We were newly-covenanted. It was natural. Even though I knew this I couldn't stop the embarrassment from settling on my skin. The thought of everyone knowing what we had done drove me mad, though of course all the important details were known only to my gothic lover and myself.

"Well, I guess not everyone knew," I thought with a smile. I had to admit, it was hard not to smile at Stormy's naivety.

"Did you have fun?" I asked her. Stormy nodded enthusiastically and proceeded to tell us all about her day with the Maxwells even as they all filed into the room. Valentine went to stand by his brother leaning against the door frame. Luna entered at s slightly awkward distance behind Sebastian who promptly returned to his seat. Yep, things were still kind of rocky there. Luna walked over to stand next to me. It was then that I noticed she was carrying my Hello Batty backpack!

I shot her a confused look, and my field of vision flashed red.

I blinked feverishly and shook my head, forgetting my anger with Luna and being amazed to realize that I was literally seeing red. I felt Alexander's comforting hand squeeze my waist and my eyesight began return to normal.

I thanked the heavens that my silent outburst had gone unnoticed by Stormy who was still telling us all about her day, and the other vampires in the room didn't make a big deal of it. The men acted as if nothing had happened, but Luna did something that surprised me.

She smiled at me. It wasn't a forced smile, or maniacal, or even competitive. It was almost understanding and even border lined on comforting. It was like she was trying to tell me not to freak out and that it was okay. That fact almost made me freak out even more.

She sent a glance to Stormy who was still talking excitedly, but slid the bag off her shoulder and handed it to me with the smallest glimmer of a smile.

I couldn't help being taken aback. Was Luna trying to make friends with me? Before I had too much time to think about it Stormy noticed our exchange and took a turn in her conversation.

"Oh yeah! Raven, Becky brought your bag by the Crypt tonight."

Stormy went on, "They said to tell you not to worry about anything. Becky said to tell you she and Billy would take care of your excuses for the first few nights until you get a chance to talk to your parents."

I couldn't help but give her a warm smile, leaning down to meet her eyes. "Thanks, Stormy. We'll have to make sure to thank them."

Just then Stormy gave me that funny look again. "Can I fix your hair?"

My hand flew to my head. I turned to Alexander in a panic, glancing between him and his sister. "Does it look that bad?" I asked.

Alexander stroked my head tenderly. "I think you look lovely," he said, planting a chaste kiss on my forehead. I couldn't help but smile at him and give him a soft squeeze.

However, when Stormy gave him a look that clearly said he had just fallen off the deep end, I lost my confidence and turned to the only other person in the room who could possibly curb a fashion disaster, Luna.

She took pity on me and offered a soft smile. "Let's just say you're going to need a little bit more practice getting ready without a mirror."

"Great," I said, rolling my eyes. I thought that I had fixed my hair when Alexander and I had gotten out of the shower. I was almost sure I had. Then again the drying off and getting dressed process was still kind of fuzzy in my mind. Maybe I hadn't. It hardly mattered now.

I turned to my husband and his best friend accusingly. "How could you guys not tell me my hair looked bad?"

Alexander raised his hands defensively. I immediately missed their presence around me. "It doesn't matter," he said. "You are beautiful no matter what your hair looks like."

There was no way I could be upset with him when he said things like that.

I turned on Sebastian who just shrugged. "You were a bit too preoccupied with other things and I didn't think that it was the best time." His emphasis on the word 'preoccupied' made my cheeks burn and brought my mind back to the seemingly inextinguishable flame that had been in the pit of my stomach since waking up with Alexander and had led to several 'adult' encounters since. I found myself fighting to keep my mind from wandering.

Alexander and I had promised to stay PG when Stormy got here. I couldn't afford to go back to Alexander drying off my body with a fluffy black towel as he kissed away the water droplets that clung to my neck. I couldn't let myself remember the dull heat that seemed to emanate from Alexander and take me over as he picked me up walked us up the stairs to his old attic room, his skeleton fingers tracing circles on the back of my thighs that rested on either side of his torso. I couldn't let myself think of his tender lips scorching my skin or the agonizingly loud screech of the mattress when my dark prince leaned over me…

I shook myself mentally. It really was a miracle that we had made it downstairs in only thirty minutes and with no one seeing us.

I rolled my eyes back to Stormy, trying to make it seem like I was exasperated by Sebastian's response and not by the hundreds of images that had just flooded my brain.

"So, Stormy, how bad is it?" I asked.

She inspected me for a moment before announcing, "It's not horrible, I guess. You just have a kind of serious case of bed-head."

The soft snigger that escaped Sebastian brought a blush to my cheeks just as I had started to get my thoughts under control. I saw an understanding grin spread across Jagger's face before he covered it with his hand. Luna tried to smile politely, but I could see the mirth behind her eyes. Valentine remained as clueless as Stormy who was now looking at Sebastian as if he were a nutcase. A part of me really wanted to run upstairs and hide. What was I supposed to do in a situation like this? My baby sister-in-law had just unwittingly told me I had sex hair!

I glanced at Alexander in hopes of finding some help, only to find him hiding a toothy grin behind his hand. I glared at him sharply, trying to scream at him mentally through my embarrassment. _This is YOUR fault! _He seemed to read me loud and clear because he proceeded to give me the most innocent look he could muster. I sent him one last glare before turning back to Stormy. _This was not over yet._

My one consolation was that Stormy really had no idea what was going on. I wanted so much to run, but another part of me told me that this was something that I shouldn't run from this.

So, I did the next best thing. I decided to own it.

Even though I knew my face must have been bright red, I stood up straight and gave Stormy what I hoped was a confident if not slightly embarrassed smile.

"Thanks for letting me know, Stormy. We did sleep in a little bit tonight." I sent Alexander a teasing smile before proceeding, "The truth is, yesterday your brother was being really weird, and I didn't get much sleep."

I noticed Alexander's grin was gone and felt a wave of emotion coming from him that could only be described as shock. Sebastian looked like he was about to fall out of his chair laughing, and Luna's mouth hung open like she couldn't believe what I had just said.

I leaned over to Stormy, grinning mischievously. "So, what do you think? Can you fix me?" I asked.

The young vampire scrutinized me closely, running her fingers through my layered, raven-colored locks before pronouncing that I wasn't 'a complete lost cause' and giving me a winning smile that reminded me so much of her brother.

"Come on," she said, grabbing my hand. I noticed hers looked like a miniature version of my own, a thick coat of glossy black nail polish covering both of our finger tips. "Once I finish your hair, maybe we can watch 'Nosferatu'," she said.

I smiled down at her, "Sounds like a plan."

As she began to lead me out of the room, Luna's pouty face caught my eye. I could see that it hurt her to have Stormy take to me so easily when they already had a friendship that went back several years. More than that, it was true that Luna really hadn't acted that nefariously since getting together with Romeo, and at this moment I couldn't help but see her for how she truly was, a girl like any other who longed for the love and security of a deep bond with someone special to her. Maybe it was time to extend the olive branch. Besides I couldn't very well leave her with all the boys.

"Luna, you wanna come?" I called to her.

Her head perked up at that and a smile spread across her face. "Sure!" she beamed, and skipped across the room to us like a gothic pixie.

* * *

At first we went to the room I now shared with Alexander, but when I opened the door with a creak and happened to see my black lace underwear peeking out from under the comforter of the bed, I slammed the door shut.

"Actually, why don't we go to your room Stormy?" I suggested. "Our room is still pretty empty, not a good atmosphere for a ghouls night. It's not comfy yet." I hoped Stormy's naivety would continue and she wouldn't think too much into my excuses. "Besides," I added for good measure, "I want it to be decorated before you see it."

Stormy just shrugged and turned to head to her room. There was no fooling Luna though. She gave me what was almost a teasing smile before following after the young vampire girl.

"I'll be right there," I called after them. "I just wanna drop off my backpack."

"K," called Stormy.

I slid into our bedroom, immediately opening the thick mattress lid to our coffin, scooping up my underwear from the floor and throwing them inside. Next I dropped my backpack onto the silky black sheets and opened it to find a note attached by a safety pin to the top flap of my bag. I smiled when I saw it and flipped it open.

_Hey Rae,_

_ I packed all the essentials for you. Sorry, I could only fit 4 outfits into your bag, but I hope that's enough to get you by for a little while. I didn't pack your toothbrush because I didn't want your parents to get suspicious. I hope you're not weirded out, but I went through your underwear. I think I picked the ones that are appropriate for the situation. ;) _

_ Anyway, I can't wait to get together again. I know I don't have to tell you, but make sure you remember every detail. I'll expect a full report from you later. Billy, Henry, Matt, and I came up with a schedule for what we can tell your parents for a couple of days. I wrote up a schedule for you. _

_Last night Billy made it look like you had gone home, and tonight (Sunday) you're spending the night at my house. At least that's what we told your parents._

_ On Monday, you go to school with me and then you'll stay with me again tomorrow night. If you can, it might be good for you to actually come by my house before it gets too late. That way we can plan what we are gonna tell everyone, since you can't just stay at my house every day. Also it might be good to let my mom see you, just in case your mom calls my mom._

_ Past that I have no idea, but I'm sure we can figure it out Monday night._

_Love you!_

_Becky_

_ PS - I also included my covenant gift to you, since we didn't get to have a proper bridal shower. Enjoy!_

I took this opportunity to peek into the bag. My vampire eyes pieced through the shadows of it's depths, finding a mass of black, red, and deep purple cloth. It was everything I had been too embarrassed to keep in my mansion drawer in Alexander's dresser. Thongs, thongs, lacey bras, and more thongs. All of it was lacey or see-through and some of it was both.

Dropping the mass of cloth into the coffin, I reached into the bag again to pull out a small gift bag. After looking inside I had to laugh. Alexander was going to love these.

Becky really had thought of everything. To be honest I hadn't really thought about how everything would work out after my dark king turned me. I was more of a 'fly by the seat of my pants' kind of ghoul. I figured I would become bonded to Alexander for eternity and move to Benson Hill to be with him. We'd live out the rest of eternity there; him painting and me working on my gothic magazine. I just assumed we'd tell my parents at some point whenever it came up, which I was now realizing might be very, very soon.

"_Nah… _ _Becky is buying us time. It'll be fine," _I thought as I dumped the remaining contents of the bag into the coffin.

* * *

Thanks so much for reading.

**I need your help! **

**Would you rather have Raven's parents find out about everything little by little in a way that won't cause too much drama or should they find out everything all at once?**

**I do have a solid plan for either option, but I would like your input.**

**Please write your opinion in the reviews or message me.**

Also, please tell me what you think of this chapter and of the story so far.

**Critical reviews are welcomed.** In fact, I feed on them. So please give constructive criticism. **Also, what do you think Becky's gift was? ;)**


	7. Girl Bonding and Distractions

We ended up settling comfortably in Stormy's room on the second floor. I sat on the floor in front of Stormy's coffin, sketchpad in hand, doodling possible options for decorating our –mine and Alexander's …I still couldn't believe it!- new room, while she sat on the closed lid, running a brush through the length of my hair and trying out different possible hair styles. Luna sat across from me on the floor finishing her crimson-tipped Romanian manicure.

"What about this one?" Stormy asked, having twisted my long layers into a funky half-up bun, the loose hair falling in waves down my back.

Luna looked up from her nails to inspect me and smiled. "You are a miracle worker, Stormy Girl," she said.

Stormy beamed at the compliment. "Ooh! Luna, can you paint my nails like that too?" she asked excitedly.

Luna seemed glad to be on good terms with Stormy again and nodded emphatically. "Sure, just let mine dry first."

I had been watching the vampire girl paint her nails from the beginning, and honestly I was amazed at her skill. Her nails were done in a perfect black and red French manicure, which in my book made it a Romanian manicure. She had even created little bats to accent her thumb nails. Every line was perfect.

Stormy grinned from ear to ear. "I'm gonna go get the movie ready. I'll be right back," she said, jumping off her coffin and bounding from the room. Luna smiled after her.

"It's nice to be able to be with her like this again," she said reflectively before turning to me. "Thanks for inviting me up, Raven."

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Luna was trying to show gratitude, to me! What happened to the girl who I had been in almost constant competition with for the past year? It took me a moment to string together the right words to respond.

"You're welcome, I guess," I said while twirling one of the longer strands of my hair and turned back to stare at Alexander's sketchpad.

What was I supposed to say to her in this kind of situation? Yeah, there was no way she could take Alexander from me now, but that didn't mean I trusted her. I remember thinking when I first met her how cool it would be to have a friend like her, but that had all been thrown out the window when we started lying to each other. I lied about being a vampire and she lied about not wanting to steal my boyfriend. Things like that don't exactly foster good will.

It was odd for me not to know what to say, but I didn't; at least not without possibly starting a fight. She didn't seem like she was trying to be snarky or steal Stormy away like before, and she had given me no grounds to start demanding, "What are you up to?!" So I decided to take my mother's advice. 'If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.' I twirled my hair and she stared at her nails.

"So…" she began, attempting to break the silence. "How's the room remodeling going?"

"Good, I think," I said with a sigh. "I really just started, and I want to run everything by Alexander before moving anything." I continued sketching the outline of a creaky antique desk absently.

"Well you know he's gonna agree with whatever you say. Let me see," she said, holding her hand out for the sketchpad. I had no reason to refuse her, so I handed it over.

"Wow, Raven! These are amazing! I never knew you were good at this kind of stuff," she gushed as she flipped through my drawings. It took a moment before I was convinced that she wasn't actually making fun of me. Luna's voice didn't have its usual sugary ooze that I had come to associate with her. She seemed genuinely impressed and even stopped to ask questions about a few of my drawings. "It's so classic goth," she said, perusing my drawings one last time before returning the pad to me. "It suites you," she said.

"Thanks," I said a little awkwardly, unsure if this was some kind of trap.

After another awkward silence Luna spoke up. "Raven, I know that up to this point we haven't exactly been friends," -I sent her a look as if to say, "No kidding, genius," but she ignored me and continued.- "but when I first met you I was being truthful when I said that you were the first person I had met to be turned like I was. I really wanted to try to be friends with you. It's just that…" she trailed off, looking as if she were searching for the right words.

"Just that what?" I asked, trying to push down the part of me that still thought of her as a boyfriend stealer.

"Alexander was my first love," she said finally. She turned away from me, her eyes focusing on the side wall, and I could tell she was very far away.

"All my life, my parents went on and on about how someday I'd be turned by Alexander and we could finally be a proper family. Can you imagine growing up and everyday your parents looking at you like you're a freak?"

Actually I could imagine it. It had been every day of my life since my parents traded in their bell-bottoms for business-appropriate kakis, but I could tell she wasn't really asking me, so I didn't answer.

"I barely even knew my parents. Whenever I woke up they were getting into bed, and at night when they were awake my mom would just look at me and sigh; her great failure…" Luna spat the words. She sat quietly for a moment before continuing.

"It's almost funny," she laughed bitterly. "When I was growing up, my mom would brush my hair for me before going to bed and she would tell me how much she couldn't wait for my 16th birthday so Alexander could come and fix me."

There was another long silence. That was something I had not experienced. I mean, yeah, my family thought I was weird, but they never seriously tried to change me into something I didn't want to be.

"I only ever saw Alexander once a year, maybe," Luna continued, "and knowing that he was going to be the one to make me normal, like the rest of my family, I guess I couldn't help but fall for him." She blew on her freshly painted nails, attempting to appear casual. Then she turned to look at me. "For as long as I can remember, I've been the white sheep of my family. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

"In my case, it was more like the black sheep, but yes. I do have some idea what that's like."

Luna sent me a look that said she didn't believe me. "Really?" she drawled. "You who for so long was just a vampire wanna-be. You could have had a normal life if you had wanted it. You chose to be different and to isolate yourself." The vampiress turned back to stare at the door. "I never had the choice."

"I'm sorry," was all I could think to say. She did have a point there.

Luna scoffed. "I don't want your pity, Raven. I want us to become friends, or at least to not constantly be at each other's throats." She looked at me with a guarded, yet hopeful expression.

I smiled at her in what I hoped was a friendly way. "I think we can give it a shot."

* * *

I felt his presence before I saw him. Stormy, Luna, and I were half way through 'Nosferatu' when suddenly every nerve in my body stood on end and a delightfully cold shiver ran down my spine. There stood the King of Darkness in all his glory, leaning against the door frame, his cavernous eyes taking in the scene before him, and I felt a swell of pride overwhelm my senses. I smiled at him and waved invitingly.

He shook his head and made the slightest of motions, beckoning me to come to him. I squeezed Stormy's hand and whispered that I would be right back. She hardly noticed, so caught up in the creepy vampire flick. I rose slowly, turning back to the doorway to find my gothic mate nowhere in sight, but I could still sense him close by.

As I crossed the threshold a spidery white hand bearing a spider ring grabbed my wrist and spun me into the arms of my dark knight. He wore dark combat boots over black skinny jeans and a ripped and safety-pinned long-sleeved shirt. He smiled down at me. His smile was so big that I could see his long incisors gleaming in the candlelight.

"Hi," he said, his deep chocolate eyes gazing at me as if he were a tiger trying to decide if it should eat its meal immediately or play with it first. A delightful shiver ran down my spine for the second time in less than five minutes.

"Hi," I responded in a tone that I hoped came across as sexy as I ran my fingered up over my dark prince's chest and across his collarbone to where I knew a fresh bite lay hidden just under the hem of his shirt. We were lucky that it was already becoming late Fall. No one would have a reason to question long-sleeves and no one would be able to see the bite marks that covered our bodies.

"I need to talk to you," said Alexander as he grinned widely down at me and slowly started to maneuver us away from the TV room to toward our own.

Noticing his direction I couldn't help but send a coy grin back at him. "Oh, really?" I said, licking my lips and making a point of glancing from his eyes to his lips to the veins in his neck and back again.

My devilish paramour caught my not-so-subtle hint and responded by pressing my back into the corridor wall and arresting my lips with his own. Alexander's passion poured out of him and I tried to return it to him with the same intensity. His fangs were just poised to sink into my jugular when we heard the top stair give a loud squeak and an exasperated huff was exhaled from the cause of the disruption.

"Seriously, you guys," Sebastian huffed, with Jagger and Valentine by his side. "There must be some rule that says when guests are present the hallway is a public area where PDA is unacceptable."

Alexander and I untangled our limbs. (Somehow our arms had wondered from their place at our sides.) Valentine walked past us and into the TV room to join the movie watchers.

"Sorry," I said, looking sheepish. As much as I loved Alexander, it was a bit embarrassing to get caught making out.

Alexander turned his attention to Jagger. "I guess you guys are staying for a bit?" he questioned.

Jagger nodded. "Just 'til they finish the movie. It's a Sunday night. I have to get back to the club."

It was Alexander's turn to nod. "Seb?"

"I was planning on sticking around for a bit," he said.

Alexander nodded again. "Well I think you know where everything is if you need anything," he said as he reached out to grab my hand lacing our fingers together. "If you'll excuse us, I need to have a word with my bride."

I was absolutely melting. I had waited so long for him to call me that. I was his bride and he was my husband, my mate. This mansion was ours. The beautiful, double-wide black casket was ours. I was his and he was mine. If I could die, I would have wanted it to be right at this moment 'cause there is no way I could ever be happier then I was right now.

The two young men rolled their eyes and walked past us into the TV room. My dark prince turned back to me. "You are very distracting," he said with a grin in his voice.

I slid my hands up his arms bringing them to rest around his neck. I couldn't help but grin back at him. "It's what I do best," I said, moving in to plant another kiss on my vampire mate's tantalizing red lips. I had just worked my tongue into his mouth when he pulled away from me.

"Raven," he whined. "I really did want to talk to you about something." He withdrew; leaving only our fingertips touching as he gently guided me toward our bedroom.

"It's your own fault for being so sexy," I retorted as the bedroom door shut behind us.

Alexander laughed and led me to the bed, which was the only piece of furniture in the room serviceable for sitting. "I'll choose to take that as a compliment," he said as he peeled off his black long-sleeve shirt.

My eyes settled on his toned chest. Red, hot energy rolled off of Alexander in waves, as if someone had just opened the floodgates of his soul. Suddenly my knees didn't feel so strong, and I sat on the edge of the bed. "What are you doing?" I asked, licking my lips in anticipation.

The Lord of the Night grinned wide and placed his hands on either side of me on the bed, cutting off all escape routes. "I'm manipulating you," he drawled with a playful look in his eyes. He kissed my neck just below my left ear. I couldn't help sighing in satisfaction. "We have to come up with a plan for what to tell your parents while we're gone on our honeymoon," he whispered. His lips slid down my neck, his sharp fangs scraping over my skin. It felt like Alexander had set a fire in my soul.

"Ghhh, later," I groaned.

"We have to deal with this sometime, love," he said, running his skillful fingers over my hips and up my sides.

"I don't want to," I pouted, pulling the best puppy dog face I could muster. In response, Alexander began to tickle me.

I squealed with laugher, falling back onto the bed and writhing to escape my lover's deft fingers running like spiders over my skin. I failed miserably.

"Give up yet?" he asked.

After another minute of uncontrollable giggles, I managed to gasp enough air to shout, "I give! I give!"

My vampiric mate released me and I sat up in the middle of the bed, folding my legs under me, as he settled down across from me.

"And after we finish planning, we can go back to more enjoyable activities?" I questioned.

Alexander took my hand and kissed it, looking at me intently all the while. I almost began to fear that I might be eaten. "Of course," he hissed.

* * *

The Maxwell's left at about the same time that the newly covenanted Sterling's emerged from their room. The couple spent the remainder of the night hanging out with Stormy and packing for their upcoming trip. Raven set her phone alarm for the next evening. They had to be ready at sunset.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading and for your patience. **

**Critical reviews are welcome. ** (I don't have a beta reader)**  
**

**Please tell me what you think of the Luna/Raven bit, or anything else you like.**


	8. Monday Part I: Deception

Trevor walked down the packed school hallway to his English class, underclassmen ducking to get out of his way. Raven hadn't been by her locker that morning. He knew because he had waited there until the last possible second before ducking into advanced chemistry. The soccer player had attempted to corner Becky during the class change, but one of the teachers stopped him to ask about some benefit that his mom was heading up and he had lost her. Finally, after settling into his desk in English he kept his eyes trained on the door, waiting for a certain black-lipped, gothic diva to walk through it. She never did.

The blond boy played the "Maybe she's sick today" record for the hundredth time in his head. "I would probably be sick to if I had been bitten by that creep," he thought. "He probably has some disease."

He determined to talk to Becky later, but she must have been looking out for him because he didn't see her for the rest of the day.

* * *

Twilight found a slightly drowsy vampire girl climbing out of a black Mercedes two blocks from her childhood home. My nocturnal lover spoke to me from the car in hushed tones, "Remember, you spent the night at Becky's last night."

"I know," I said. "And I have to spend the night again tonight because today at school the teacher assigned this huge project and we wanted to work on it together."

Alexander smiled at me in his way. "I'll meet you around midnight."

It only took me about five minutes to get home. When I walked in the door I was hit with the worst possible smell imaginable. It was like brussel sprouts had been pickled with ginger, moldy cheese, and Billy's gym socks. This smell mixed with the aroma of pasta and meaty tomato sauce really threw me for a loop. As a walked into the kitchen I realized where the smell was coming from. My mom was pulling garlic bread out of the oven. I froze. _"Don't panic. Don't panic,"_ I told myself. "_As long as I don't eat it, I'll be okay."_

"Oh, Raven," my mom said, setting the bread on the counter. "Welcome home. How was school today?"

I settled on a bar stool as far away from the foul smelling garlic bread as I could get, dropped my backpack on the floor, and tried to smile. "It was good," I said. "We stared a new project today in biology. I'm working on it with Becky."

"That's nice," said my mother as she stirred the pot of tomato sauce. "What is the project about?"

"The digestive system," I said, scrambling for an answer. "We are planning on studying one of the cows at Becky's farm. Did you know cows have more than one stomach?" I asked, trying my hardest to sound legitimate. "Actually, I just came home to get a change of clothes and grab some stuff for tomorrow. I'm gonna stay the night at Becky's again."

Sarah Madison sighed. "You know, Raven. You could ask us before you make plans. I know you like to hang out with your friends and that you're exploring your new independence, but I feel like I haven't seen you in two days."

"_That's because you haven't,"_ I thought to myself. "I'm sorry, mom," I said in a pacifying tone. Then I poured on the disappointment, "I guess I can call Becky and tell her I can't make it."

Mom sighed again. "No, you don't have to do that," she said. "You can go after we eat dinner. Your father is off tonight so we will be sharing a meal as a family." I eyed the garlic bread evilly, but my mother's voice had left no room for a response.

"Thanks, mom," I said, shuffling off the stool and in the direction of the stairs. Then a thought struck me. "Hey, there's no garlic in the pasta, right?"

My mom looked up from her work for the first time, appearing puzzled. "No, there isn't," she replied. "Why?"

I tried to shrug it off like it wasn't a big deal. "Since Alexander's allergic I try not to eat garlic as much," I said, starting up the stairs toward my room, but mom's eyes narrowed and she reached out toward me. "Raven, what happened?" she asked, concern streaking her voice.

I sent her a confused look. She brought her hands to either side of my head. "How did you get this mark on your neck?"

I backed away immediately and smiled, trying to play it off, but on the inside I was panicking. It was not time to tell her yet! I had to come up with a believable lie quick. "Oh, that," I said, trying to sound exasperated. "I guess I just held Nightmare too long. I fell asleep with her in my arms last night and when I woke up I had this. Don't worry. It's clean."

My mom sighed. "Alright then." I made a dash for my room.

* * *

After packing my empty backpack with stuff to take on my honeymoon and tying a black and white striped scarf around my neck I collapsed onto my old bed. I was going to have to tell my parents soon. That had been way too close of a call, and besides that I couldn't keep shuffling my stuff from my old room into the mansion in my backpack. But today I was not ready. Alexander and I had agreed that we would tell them as soon as we got back. Not today.

It was strange to look around my old room now. I couldn't imagine ever living here again. I was sitting among all of the things that I loved, but if I had to, I'd give it all up to stay with Alexander. I looked at the Hello Batty alarm clock by my head and snuggled into my fluffy blood red pillow. I hoped it didn't come to that.

I heard the soft patter of cat feet enter the room and felt the blankets shift when Nightmare launched herself onto the bed. I looked over at her smiling, but she seemed to be a bit wary of me, sniffing my arm in a testing way. This was the first time she had seen me as a true vampire. "Don't worry, girl. It's just me," I said soothingly.

Slowly I raised my hand to pet her. She seemed unsure at first but soon settled down. Before I knew it she had taken her usual place on my stomach, her tail swaying back and forth contentedly as I petted her. "Just a few more days, girl, then you can come and live with Alexander and I," I said as my fingers ran over her satiny black fur. "Until then you have to be good for grandma and grandpa, okay?"

"Kids! Dinner!" bellowed by mom from downstairs. I sat up, placing my black cat beside me on the bed. "I guess that's that then," I said to her. Her cat eyes blinked at me lazily before she settled her head down on her paws and gave a big cat yawn. I smiled. It was hard not to be jealous of a life like that. The only thing she had to worry about was finding a good place for a nap.

I stood up, straightened my hair, and out of habit looked into my vanity mirror. There was only an empty space looking back at me, an empty, black, teenage goth room. "_Oh yeah. No reflection." _I thought with a sigh and headed downstairs with my backpack, leaving a note under Billy's door along the way asking him to make sure Nightmare was getting fed.

Billy seemed a little surprised to see me, and he stared as I sat down at the table. I kicked him when mom left to bring the garlic bread to the table. "Help me!" I mouthed frantically and made an exaggerated glance toward mom who was now walking in with the bread, dad on her heals. She set it right under my nose. I thought I was gonna die. The whole thing just smelled of rotten vegetables mixed with dentist office.

Luckily for me, Billy made a big show of grabbing for the bread plate. "It smells delicious, mom!" he said. I tried to smile, fighting the nausea that threatened to overtake me. "It really does," I added, reaching for the bloody tomato sauce in hopes that it might make me feel better.

I almost spit out the first bite. This tasted horrible! It was like eating sand. I glanced up at Billy and my dad. They seemed to be legitimately enjoying this trash. I forced myself to swallow and began stirring the noodles around with my fork. Maybe it was my vampire senses. Maybe now that I was a vampire, my pallet had changed in more ways than I thought. Maybe since I had already had my mate's blood, nothing else would satisfy me. Alexander had said that I would need him. Is this what he had meant? Or is this how human food always tasted to him? If that was the case, he deserved way more credit than I had ever given him. To top it all off, I could still feel the sting of garlic in my nose.

I realized that my family was watching me intently. I blinked my thoughts away. "I'm sorry. What?" I asked.

Mom gave a soft sigh. "I was saying that we should invite Alexander and his family for dinner again. I asked what you thought about it."

"Oh," I stumbled. My head was starting to spin. "Alexander's parents are out of town again."

"We could have Alexander and Stormy then. That would be nice

I nodded. "I'll ask Alexander about it when I see him." It wasn't a lie. I would talk to him about it, if I could ever get the world to stop spinning.

I managed to eat a few more bites before I realized that I had to go. The smell was stifling.

"Are you alright, dear?" asked my dad. "You look really pale."

Billy jumped in for me. "She doesn't look any paler than usual," he said in his particularly skeptical voice. I knew that I should make a show of arguing with him or something, but I couldn't do it right now. I needed to clear my head.

I stood up from the table shakily. "It's getting late. I'd better get to Becky's," I said. I took my plate to the kitchen and was out the door before anyone could say a word to stop me.

* * *

The bike ride to Becky's did a lot to clear my head. It was good to be away from garlic heavy air again. I was kind of amazed that by the time I got all the way to Becky's farm I wasn't huffing and puffing. I guessed that was one of the perks of being a vampire. Granted I still didn't know how to change into a bat. That would have been way faster than taking my bike. I made a note of asking Alexander about that as I hid my bike in a bush by Becky's house.

Becky's mom answered the door. "Hey, Mrs. M," I greeted.

"Hi Raven," she returned. "Becky told me you were staying the night. She's in her room."

"Thanks," I said before going to meet my best friend.

Becky jumped on me as soon as I opened the door. "You have to tell me everything!" she whispered excitedly.

We settled on her bed and spent the better part of the next hour just talking the way we used to. It was kind of nice to have the girl time with my best friend. I told her about what I had told my mom, what had happened with the garlic, and about the plan Alexander and I had come up with.

"So I have to cover for you until Thursday?" the freckled girl confirmed.

I nodded. "We should be back on Thursday, Friday morning at the latest."

Becky squealed with excitement. "I can't believe you're gonna be married for real, like legal documents and everything. Are you guys getting rings? Are you going to have an actual ceremony or does the covenant ceremony count?"

I couldn't help laughing at all of the questions. "I think the covenant ceremony counts," I said.

I was almost midnight. Becky's parents had gone to bed hours ago, but we sat up as we usually did when we had a sleepover. The difference was that tonight I wouldn't have to worry about being drug out of the bed in the morning to go to school.

"I'm glad you came over tonight, Raven," said the brunette. "I wondered if being a vampire would change you; if you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore." She paused, looking up at me. "I guess it was silly of me to worry, huh?"

"Yep, pretty silly," I affirmed.

"Rae!" she whined, and I laughed. Just then the sound of a single motor could be heard approaching the house. I felt a dark, shivering, warmth snake over my skin, and I couldn't stop the smile from spreading over my face. "He's here," I told Becky and launched myself off of her bed.

My best friend followed my tiptoed sprint down the stairs and out onto the front porch where we were met with the sight of a tall, imposing figure, clad in black leather astride a large black motorcycle. My bite wound tingled in his presence, and I shivered in delight. One glance at Becky told me she was shaking in her boots. "Is that…" she began.

I just smiled and nodded to her. The dark figure seemed to sense my friend's unease and in one fluid motion removed his helmet to reveal long dark locks, soulful brown eyes, and a glorious smile. His fangs gleamed under the light of the moon. "Hey Becky," he greeted warmly. "Thanks for taking care of Raven for me."

I descended the stairs as Alexander pulled a second leather jacket and black helmet out of a storage compartment. It was a girls' helmet. I sent him a questioning look as I took it. He shrugged in a nonchalant way, "I've been waiting to give it to you. Now seemed appropriate."

I gave him a toothy grin and pulled on the jacket before replacing my backpack. Electricity passed through my body as I settled onto the bike behind my husband. I slid the helmet on and hugged Alexander around the middle, stuffing my hands into the pockets of his jacket. Just because I didn't feel the cold anymore didn't mean that I couldn't appreciate his closeness.

"See you later, Beck!" I called, and my dark knight drove us out of the drive way. In less than ten minutes we passed a sign that made me want to shout for joy.

"Now leaving *Dullsville*."

* * *

Billy shuffled down the stairs with his empty ice cream bowl, vanilla and strawberry swirl still dancing on his tongue. However, his mother's despairing voice kept him from turning the corner into the kitchen. "I'm worried about her, Paul. We've barely seen her at all this week."

The preteen boy peeked through the opening between the wall and the stair railing, providing him with a meager view of the kitchen. His mother stood with her hands in the sink, cleaning up from the evening meal. Dad stood not far away, leaning against the counter with a dish towel in hand. "That's not strange for Raven," he assured his wife. "She's always been an independent spirit." The man strode over to wrap his wife in his arms, "Just like her mother."

The woman offered him a smile and held up a wet plate for him. He released her to dry it before putting it away. "I'm serious, Paul," she continued. "She said she was at Becky's, but today she came home with a hickey the size of a golf ball."

Dad froze. "A what?" he asked.

"And she was so shaky tonight at dinner," Sarah continued as if she hadn't heard her husband speak. "You don't think she could be– "

"No," interrupted Paul, not wanting to even think about the possibility. He took a deep breath allowing everything that his wife was saying to process. After a moment, he took his wife's hand, gently turning her toward him, "Sarah, we raised Raven to think for herself and to make her own choices. We have to let her make them."

Sarah nodded, "But what if she _is_ sleeping with Alexander? He's a good boy, but they're so young. What if something happens?"

The man smiled weakly and replaced a strand of hair behind his wife's ear. "We could build a mountain of 'what if's' sweetheart, but that won't change anything. We can only trust the daughter that we raised to make wise choices and make sure that she knows we're here for her even if she doesn't."

Sarah sighed and nodded, but slipped out of her husband's arms to go dig through her purse.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Calling Emma Miller," she said, finally succeeding in finding her phone and putting it up to her ear.

"Sarah," her husband started, but mom held her finger in the air to silence him. "Emma? Hi, this is Sarah Madison," she said into the receiver. "I just wanted to make sure that Raven got to your house alright. … Mmhmm. … Yes. Thank you very much." She hung up.

Paul lifted his eyebrows in question. Sarah huffed, "Just because I trust her decisions, doesn't mean I can't check on her."

Dad smiled at his wife's antics. "I take it she's there then?" he asked, returning to the dishes.

Mrs. Madison joined her husband. "Yes, safe and sound at the Miller's."

* * *

Next chapter will finally get into some of the meat of this story. Sorry for the long wait.

**_Critical reviews_ and _ideas_ are always welcome.**

Any thoughts on Trevor or Stormy would especially be appreciated. I'm trying to juggle like 4 story lines between Raven and Alexander, her family, his family, and Trevor. It's a work in progress.


	9. Monday Part II: My Precious Thing

Alexander brought the motorcycle to a stop outside an office building in downtown Hipsterville. This was an area that I had come to know fairly well. The theater where Aunt Libby's theater troupe had performed "Dracula" was not far from here and the Coffin Club was about three blocks away. It was nearly 3am. That meant we only had three-ish hours before we had to be locked away, snuggled up in our coffin. The only lights on the street came from the florescent sign from a pub on the corner. Not that it bothered me. I could see just fine. It was just strange to see an area that was usually so busy be completely deserted.

"What are we doing here?" I asked as Alexander began digging in his bag for something. He pulled out a pen and a manila envelope from which he produced a thin stack of papers.

"Just some legal stuff that has to be taken care of," he said, handing me the pen and documents. "It's your last chance to back out," he said, "though realistically you're already stuck with me." He gave a toothy grin, his fangs flashing in the moonlight.

It was the marriage registration form. I grinned back at Alexander. He had already signed it.

"Let me use your back," I commanded. My almost legal, vampire husband turned and I pressed my signature onto the appropriate dotted line. I almost laughed when I saw who had signed the witness lines. Sebastian I had expected. The name that surprised me was Jagger's. "Maybe the Maxwell's really have turned over a new leaf,"

I said, returning the documents to Alexander.

"Maybe," he assented. "Either way, he offered, and we needed a second legal witness."

Alexander nudged me off of the bike before dismounting himself and taking my hand. He strode over to one of the offices along the strip and pulled open the generic glass door. To my great surprise, it swung easily, and Alexander help the door open for me to enter. Sending him a puzzled look I entered the building to find a perfectly normal looking and completely empty office lobby. Alexander followed behind me, placing his hand at the small of my back and nudging me forward into the room.

We walked to the elevator and it opened. I was surprised to see a second door directly on the other side of the elevator. However as we entered and the doors closed behind us I realized that it wasn't a second door at all. I was looking into a mirror.

"That's creepy," I commented.

"Security measure," he explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "If the receptionist looks into the elevator when it arrives and sees a person with no reflection, she immediately knows who she's dealing with. Granted that trick is most of use before midnight. Most humans aren't thinking about processing legal documents at this hour."

I was about to ask him what kind of place we were walking into when the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a soft ding. Directly in front of the doors was a blond woman wearing a sensible black dress suit sitting behind a reception desk. As we entered the office I was taken aback by how normal she looked. That is until she smiled at us and her fangs flashed.

That's when it hit me. This was a vampire legal office. I guess it made sense. Vampires had to have birth certificates and all that, same as anybody else. I had just never thought about it before. Even after I met Alexander, I still kind of assumed that vampires just lived in their castles, secluded from the world and took care of themselves for eternity. I never imagined they had their own government or anything.

Then I turned my head to peruse the rest of the office and nearly tripped over my own feet. Alexander steadied me. "Do you need to sit down?" he asked, concern lacing his beautiful features. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Off to the right of the reception desk was an absolutely ordinary, sterile waiting area, but the inhabitants of the waiting area were anything but ordinary. There was a small, dwarvish looking man whose legs hung off the side of his chair sitting next to a purple-haired young woman with clothes that reminded me of seaweed and coral. She sat scrolling through something on her smartphone, looking very bored. Farther down the line sat an older man of average build with curly brown hair and short horns protruding from just above his pointed ears. He sat with a clipboard filling out paperwork as if it were the most natural thing in the world. However, the one that really got me was the couple sitting in the corner. The man was tall and broad with a smile that would melt butter. With his build and those dimples he could have easily passed for that college football star that all the girls wanted, if not for the other-worldly, liquorish black skin, sharp teeth, and horns. The girl next to him didn't seem to mind though. Then again her skin was covered in green scales. The man said something to her and she giggled in a way that sounded almost snake-like.

"It's not polite to stare," Alexander whispered playfully to me, leading me to the front desk. "Vampires are not the only demons in the world." This was a revelation to me. I guess it shouldn't have been. If vampires existed it made sense that other stuff would exist too. It was just so weird to see it.

"Welcome," the blond greeted in a European accent. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Alexander handed the manila envelope to the woman. "We would like to register our marriage," he replied, taking my hand.

The woman smiled in a way that reminded me of Ruby, showing all of her glimmering white teeth. In fact, she seemed quite a lot like a gothic doppelganger of Ruby, but there was something off about her. I just couldn't put my finger on it. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed, and I found myself wondering if she was legitimately excited for us or if she was being bratty. "You're in luck," she sang. "It's a surprisingly quiet night for the judge." The woman returned the folder. "It's the third door on the left."

That's when I realized what it was. She didn't have ears! Well, she did, but they weren't human looking. She had two pointed canine ears that matched her golden hair and laid flat, back against her head. "You're not a vampire…" I breathed almost more to myself than to her.

"Well aren't you sharp," the woman retorted, seeming insulted that I had pointed it out. "Is it a problem, Mrs. Bloodsucker?" she spat, her sweet smile gone. I blinked and felt my forehead scrunch up, not sure what her problem was.

Alexander stepped in front of me protectively, bowing his head slightly to the woman. "Please excuse us," he placated. "My bride is recently human and does not understand our ways."

I felt like I had been slapped in the face! It's not like it was my fault I didn't know these things. I could practically feel every eye ball in the room boring into my back. I knew that feeling. I had just been marked an outsider, or at the very least an idiotic newbie. I hated that feeling. I had gotten used to it with humans, but I had thought that after becoming a vampire I would finally be able to be with people who were like me; people who would accept me. I guess I was wrong.

Alexander seemed to sense my rage building. He grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers with mine. Immediately my brain was bombarded by huge question marks. This only served to make me angrier. If he didn't understand why I was upset, I wasn't about to tell him.

My blood was boiling from Alexander's comment, but that seemed to settle the canine woman's spirit. She visibly relaxed and her smile returned. "I see," she turned her smile on me. "In that case, I apologize for snapping at you. I am accustomed to dealing with unkind, bigoted people. I hope that you will not think ill of me."

"It's okay," I said, trying to sound pleasant. "I'm sorry I offended you." I still had no idea what had happened, but if the soothing vibes I was getting from Alexander meant anything, now was not the time to start a fight.

Alexander nodded his thanks to the canine woman and tugged me down the hallway. My mate slowed his pace until it was even with mine before leaning over to whisper in my ear, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I whisper-shouted, rounding on him.

Alexander hung his head and squeezed my hand. I could feel his consciousness probing mine shyly. "It seems I have embarrassed you," he said finally.

"Honestly the thought of other species being here didn't even cross my mind, but it should have. You had no warning and have every right to feel confused. I should have told you before." My vampire mate brought my hand up to his lips. "Will you forgive me?" he asked, his breath cascading over the veins in my wrist and sending shivers through my body.

How could I stay angry at him when he did that?

I sighed and sent him a smile. "Fine, but from now on, you have to give me some warning before coming into a place like this so I don't look like a complete idiot. Also," I leaned into him, "you have to teach me all of those 'our ways'," I said, making air quotes with my free hand. I stood on my tiptoes until my nose brushed his. "Understand?" I asked.

My gothic prince smiled. "As you wish." We shared a quick kiss and Alexander proceeded to lead me farther down the hallway.

"The receptionist is a werewolf," he informed me.

"A werewolf?!" I whispered in return. "I thought vampires and werewolves were like natural enemies or something."

Alexander smiled. "You've seen too many monster movies."

"A lot of monster movies got vampires right," I retorted.

"Fair enough," my dark knight shrugged. "It was like that once, but that was centuries ago." We arrived at the office door. "The judge is going to ask to see your bite to confirm our covenant," said Alexander.

My cheeks burned. I couldn't explain it, but there was something about that bite that seemed private. It wasn't anybody else's business what Alexander and I did in our coffin. My mate squeezed my hand in a comforting way and turned the door knob.

The door we had been directed to opened into a dimly lit office that could only be described as… homey. In truth it screamed home on the range. There were mounted animal heads and fish frozen on plaques. Stallion figurines sat across a coffee table and the hat wrack by the door was home to an eclectic collection of cowboy hats.

The large man sitting behind the desk gave a huge smile and waved us inside. "Come in," he bellowed in a thick southern accent. He stood up and came around his desk to shake hands with Alexander. He was a tall man, towering over me by a good foot and a half, with a broad torso. "I'm Judge Bracket. Now, what can I do for you folks?" He asked good-naturedly as he turned his bright smile on me. Something told me this was not your average scary monster type even if he did have fangs.

"We need to turn in our marriage registration," Alexander answered him, handing over the documents. The large man flipped through the pages making varied 'mmhmm' sounds as he went.

"Well," he said finally, crossing back to sit behind his desk, "It seems like everything is in order. Just needs my signature." He pulled out a pen. "I'll need to see your ID's."

I was lucky that I brought my wallet with me. The fangy judge looked over our ID's and our marriage registration form. He looked up at me. "Somehow I don't think that the two gentlemen who witnessed your marriage are your legal guardians. Do they know what you are doing?" the judge questioned.

"Do they have to know?" I challenged.

"No," he sighed. "In this state you can legally marry without parental consent at 16." He signed the first page with a flourish. "This one will go to the American government," he said before looking up at us. "And I'll need to see proof of your covenant."

I looked to Alexander as he raised his hand to pull the collar of his leather jacket and shirt away from this throat, revealing the bruised bite wound in the space above his collar bone. The judge nodded his approval, turning to me. If I had been human I would have been sweating profusely. Alexander took my hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. His warm glow took me over and I suddenly got the distinct feeling that it was okay, almost like he were whispering words of comfort into my ear even though his red lips didn't move a millimeter.

Slowly, I took off my scarf. The burly vampire smiled and proceeded to sign the remaining document before returning both to the manila envelope. "Okay, you're good to go," he said, placing the documents in a basket on the corner of the desk. "and congratulations."

I replaced my scarf. The big man smiled at us. "Have a good night. May the shadows protect you."

My prince of darkness smiled and bowed his head at the words. "And you," he replied. "Thank you, judge."

* * *

My dark angel sighed and stretched her arms over her head, and I headed over to the black bike that had gone undisturbed during our meeting. I glanced up at the moon. "We still have a few hours to sunrise," I said. "How do you feel about having some fun?"

Raven gave me a glorious, sultry smile, making a small strut to my side and wrapping her slender arms around my neck. "What kind of fun are we talking about?" she questioned in a playful voice.

"_Keep that up and I might just lock you up in our bedroom," _I thought and gave myself a mental shake. "Well," I said, placing my hands on her hips, "I was thinking that since one of your favorite places is right around the corner, we might pop in," I nuzzled her neck and couldn't help smiling when I felt her pulse quicken, "maybe dance for a while," the tips of my fangs scraped over her luscious white skin, "have a drink or two."

"Oh, no you don't," she chastised, pushing me away, "I will not be bitten on a street corner like some other kind of woman of the night." She said that, but I could feel the heat rolling off of her in waves and her eyes gleamed with anticipation. Talk about mixed signals.

"I am to believe then that it is the street corner you object to and not the bite?" I teased.

She beat my chest lightly. "Come on, bat boy. Let's get to the Coffin Club before the sun comes up."

That's when I smelled it.

A delightful shiver ran through my body and my toes curled. My mouth began to water in anticipation, and I found that my jeans had just become uncomfortably tight.

I climbed onto my bike and revved the engine. "On second thought, why don't we hold off on the Coffin Club until another night?" I purred as Raven climbed onto the bike behind me, straddling the black leather. My nose burned. I pulled my helmet visor down, hiding my face. "I have a surprise for you," I drawled, licking my lips. The whole world had turned red. I could sense Raven's confusion as well as her anticipation, or was that just me? I didn't hear Raven's response as we roared off into the night. I was a little busy trying to control my own out of control body.

By the time we had made the trek to our decrepit honeymoon home on Lennox Hill, I had almost gained control again. Raven ran up the steps to the house with a huge smile on her face while I parked the bike in the shed. When I returned to her side I found my bride digging through the tall grass.

"Aha!" she shouted, holding a heavy, iron, broken door knocker. She sent me a coy smile. "I might have broken this the last time I was here," she confessed.

I couldn't help smiling at her. "I wondered what happened to that," I said, taking the dense metal from her and setting it on the front step. "I'll fix it later," I assured her, still far to fixated on my sultry bride to be concerned with home maintenance.

* * *

Alexander led me up the creaky old stair case. This place was the absolute perfect vampire honeymoon get-away. There was a delightfully cozy layer of dust a centimeter thick on everything, including on the cobwebs which gathered in every corner. Alexander led me all the way up the squeaky stairs to the attic, and a wave of nostalgia swept over me. There in the middle of the room lay Alexander's black coffin.

My gothic mate crossed the room to an old battery powered boom box. I watched him curiously. I could still feel the heat that rolled off his body. He had been like that ever since we had left that underworld office.

"I thought we could have a little dance party of our own, one of the more private variety," he said, looking up at me meaningfully. A shiver ran down my spine, and I was surprised when the music that began to play was not the edgy punk rock or techno that I was used to writhing to at the Crypt. This was a waltz.

Alexander held out his hand to me. "Would you honor me with this dance, my lady?" he asked.

I smiled and took his hand. My mate led me through the waltz with more grace than I had ever thought possible. What was even more amazing was that I didn't have a single misstep. The waltz changed to a tango and Alexander spun me until I was wrapped in his arms, my back pressing into his side.

I heard Alexander's deep breath and left the warm air on my neck as he exhaled heavily. A soft kiss fell on the curve of my shoulder, and I found myself leaning into my one and only knight of the night. His heat overwhelmed me, and I surrendered to it, losing all conscious thought as his sharp incisors penetrated my skin.

* * *

When we began to feel the familiar prickles that signaled the rising sun, we snuggled into my old coffin. I was thankful Jameson had brought it over for us. It would stay here permanently now, as a sort of second home. The old half vampire had even set up the protection ring around the coffin, mixing the soil from Dullsville Cemetery with the soil he had brought from Romania so that Raven would be safe.

This coffin was not as spacious as our new one, and we had both hit our heads on the casket lid multiple times before settling into sleep. My bride lay mostly on top of me, her head resting on my chest and her limbs tangled up with mine.

I found myself stroking Raven's dark locks absently. She had long since fallen asleep, and the black bed sheets hung lazily over her bare shoulders. Our clothes, which now had a few more rips in them, were sprawled across the floor. I admit I had gotten a little ahead of myself, but who could blame me. I licked my lips in anticipation.

This precious thing was finally, wholly and completely, mine. No one could ever take her from me, not even her parents. I felt myself smile as sleep began to overtake me. This had quite possibly been the best day of my life.

* * *

**Critical reviews are welcome! I have no beta reader.**

As I was searching though vampire lore and trying to get it to work together with the monster movie vampire lore that is cannon in this series I was greatly inspires by the work of Karen Lynch in her "Relentless" series, I will be borrowing some concepts from her in my future explanations of vampire/demon lore. I hope you like it.

Also, my new goal is to produce one chapter per month, just so you know.


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